Spilling the Beans on Intuitive Eating Series

This post has been long overdue and I have admittedly been putting it off. Intuitive Eating (IE) is the foundation for my food philosophies as a registered dietitian and I have been referring to the topic since the first post on Spilling the Beans. With transitioning to a new job and city, I haven’t had quite the time or head space that I wanted when tackling this subject…until now! I wanted to make sure that I gave this topic the time and energy that it deserves to do the subject justice. Instead of trying to explain all of the ins and outs of IE in a single post, I have decided to do my first series here on the blog—Spilling the Beans on Intuitive Eating.

In each post, I will provide insights into each of the 10 principles to better break it down for you. I also have some awesome guests who will be posting in the series as well. With the principles, I will be including exercises and journal prompts that you can work through at home. It’s one thing to read about a concept, but to fully embrace IE, it takes some practice. Eventually it will become second nature—intuitive, if you will. If you are a dietitian, these may also be helpful exercises to share with your clients. One of my goals in life is to help people build healthier relationships with food and self; and IE is the best method for doing so.

Today I wanted to kick off the series by sharing the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. And don’t worry—none of these are those restricting food rules you are accustomed to reading about in magazines or the latest episode of The Dr. Oz Show (can you sense my eye rolls from there?!?) Check out the infographic I created below for a brief overview of all of the principles.

Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch are the dietitians behind Intuitive Eating—and huge role models in my life. Their book is always the first I recommend to people wanting to heal their relationship with food. They also released a workbook this past year that has been so helpful in guiding clients through the principles. For the most comprehensive guide to IE, definitely order a copy of their book. I also created this Intuitive Eating Principles handout that I first use with clients when introducing the topic of IE.

Now that you have read through the principles and started to develop an idea of what this IE world is all about, I want to provide you with some questions to reflect on. As I mentioned, I will be providing journal prompts each week and introduction week is no exception. Before entering a life changing journey, it’s important to take the time to think about why you are starting to begin with. When I began my IE journey, I was sick of obsessing about my weight and trying to micromanage my body. When thinking back on my life (though it may sound morbid), I knew that I didn’t want people to say “well, she was really good at dieting and staying skinny.” I imagine the same can be said about you.

If you do any reflecting, I would love to hear from you either in the comments below or using the hashtag #SpillingTheBeansOnIE. When I was recovering from unhealthy relationships from food, I found so much value in hearing other people’s stories. I’m sure others feel the same. 🙂